AG's report documents past child sexual abuse in Balt. Archdiocese

By Tom Hall,

Teria Rogers, Rob Sivak, Malarie Pinkard-Pierre

Published April 6, 2023 at 3:13 PM EDT

In this March 28, 2017, file photo, Baltimore Archbishop William Lori leads a funeral Mass for Cardinal William Keeler at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore. More than four years ago, Maryland's then-Attorney General Brian Frosh announced the establishment of a phone hotline for victims to report child sex abuse associated with a place of worship or school at archdioceses across Maryland, a state with one of the country's highest concentrations of Catholics. Unlike his counterparts in other states that formally announced probes into clergy sex abuse, Frosh's office only called publicly for victims of abusers linked to schools or places of worship to come forward. But last year, Lori wrote to priests and deacons in the Archdiocese of Baltimore advising them to cooperate fully with the Attorney General's investigation into child sex abuse, whose preliminary findings were released Wednesday. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, 2018 File)

Our focus on Midday today is the Attorney General’s Report on Child Sexual Abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

A warning to our listeners: for the rest of the hour, we’re going to talk about child sexual abuse.

Yesterday, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown released the long-awaited Catholic clergy sexual abuse report. It chronicles more than 80 years of abuse by more than 150 Catholic clergy members, seminarians, deacons and Archdiocese employees, and their victimization of more than 600 children and young people.

The Catholic Church is by no means the only religious faith institution which has had clergy break trust and act criminally with their congregants, nor are religious institutions the only professions in which abusers prey on children. But the Catholic Church is the sole focus of this particular report.

Anthony Brown, the Democratic nominee for Maryland Attorney General, is a decorated combat veteran who has represented MD's 4th District in the US House since 2017. The former MD Delegate also served as Maryland's Lt. Gopvernor from 2007-2015.) (photo by Steve Barrett) — Anthony Brown, a Democrat, was sworn in as Maryland's Attorney General in January 2023. The former MD Delegate (2017-2022) also served as Maryland's Lt. Governor from 2007-2015.) (photo by Steve Barrett)

Here’s part of what AG Brown had to say yesterday when he announced the report’s release:

“Today, certainly in Maryland, is a day of reckoning and a day of accounting…

“The incontrovertible history uncovered by this investigation is one of pervasive, pernicious and persistent abuse by priests and other Archdiocese personnel. It’s also a history of repeated cover-up of that abuse by the Catholic Church hierarchy…”

"What was consistent throughout the stories was the absolute authority and power these abusive priests and the church leadership held over survivors, their families and their communities. The report seeks to document this long and sordid history..."

"While it may be too late for the survivors to see criminal justice served, we hope that exposing the archdiocese's transgressions to the fullest extent possible will bring some measure of accountability and perhaps encourage others to come forward."

— Md Attorney General Anthony Brown, speaking Wednesday in Annapolis.

The report was written by Elizabeth Embry, who worked on it for four years. Ms. Embry is now a member of the House of Delegates. She will be joining Tom to talk about the report and its findings here on Midday next week, after the General Assembly Session has concluded.

The abuse described in the report goes back to the 1940s. Archbishop William Lori, in a letter to Catholics published yesterday, offered an apology, acknowledged the “reprehensible time in the history of this Archdiocese,” and asserted that since the 1990s, the church has been more transparent and cooperative with law enforcement to remove abusers from its ranks.

We invited Archbishop Lori to join our conversation. He declined our invitation. Today is a holy day in the church calendar, Maundy Thursday, and the Archbishop’s spokesperson cited a schedule conflict.

Today, we’ll hear from some of the survivors of the abuse that is described in the report, from reporters who have been covering this story, and from a Doctor who treats child sexual abusers.

WYPR health reporter Scott Maucione (left) and Emily Hofstaedter, WYPR general assigment reporter. (courtesy photos)

Joining Tom in Studio A to discuss the AG's report are Scott Maucione, WYPR’s health reporter, and Emily Hofstaedter, a WYPR general assignment reporter. We also hear a recorded comment from Dylan Segelbaum, a reporter with WYPR's news partner, The Baltimore Banner.

Later in the program, Tom is joined by Dr. Elizabeth Letourneau. She's the director of the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Elizabeth J. Letourneau is the director of the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse and professor in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. (photo credit: Mitro Hood Photography/JHBSPH)

If you are a victim of abuse, and you are ready to come forward you can report past abuse by members of the clergy or anyone else by calling the Attorney General's Office at 410-576-6312 or emailing [email protected].

In addition, there are a variety of local and national resources available for survivors of sexual violence:

Baltimore Child Abuse Center at Center for Hope: 410-601-HOPE; https://lbhstaging22.lifebridgehealth.org/CenterforHope/BaltimoreChildAbuseCenterServices.aspx
Center for Family and Traumatic Stress at Kennedy Krieger Institute: 443-923-5980; https://www.kennedykrieger.org/patient-care/centers-and-programs/traumatic-stress-center
Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault: https://mcasa.org/
Male Survivors: https://malesurvivor.org/
Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network: https://www.rainn.org/
Survivor Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP): https://www.snapnetwork.org/

CORRECTION: During today's live broadcast, we heard a clip of a woman named Maria Smith. Ms. Smith was incorrectly identified; she is a Catholic parishioner, not a survivor of sexual abuse. We apologize for the error.

Audio will be posted here shortly.